


You stole my heart

by aesthetic__us



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Did I mention fluff?, Established Relationship, FLUFF EVERYWHERE THOUGH, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Fluff everywhere, Hiding it, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Just Keith and Lance trying not to get caught, Keith and Lance are my children, Keith and Shiro are Adoptive Siblings, Little bit of angst, M/M, Pidge is an angel, Secret Relationship, Shiro...just shiro, flufffff, its a push and pull thing, just a tad bit of Angst, klance, minor shallura, team tries to get them together without realizing that they are already dating, while the rest of the team tries to get them to date
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-30
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-01-05 15:26:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12192558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aesthetic__us/pseuds/aesthetic__us
Summary: Keith and Lance have been dating for a while, however, they have had to hide it from the team in fear that they will be forced to break up. It seems that it's not as easy as they first believed.______________________________________________________________________________"We should get back, "Keith pulled away."Or, we could go back to my room. We could just say we were looking for what you took and you got mad and said it might be in my room," Lance began to kiss him again."And just what did I steal?"Lance broke the kiss, pretending like he was looking far off in the distance, "My heart."Keith looked up." Is that so? Then how about I give you mine in return?"The blue paladin intertwined their fingers, "Yep. We're definitely going to my room. They probably won't even notice we're gone."Keith reached back and pulled the hood of Lance's jacket over his head, "I really like your jacket. I think I'm gonna keep it." Keith began to play with the sleeve on his left hand."Babe, it was yours the moment you put it on."





	1. The beginning to it all

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! I was home sick and I suddenly got inspired so I opened my laptop and wrote this while being half-dead.

"Babe, get up. We have training early today" Lance kissed Keith's forehead softly but didn't make any effort to get up himself.  
Keith curled up into Lance's chest a bit more and tightened his grip on his waist.  
The night had been a cold one, and the morning was no different.  
"They can wait a few more minutes" Keith mumbled and yawned.  
His nose scrunched up and he sniffled, causing the blue paladin's heart to expand with adoration.  
Lance felt himself slipping back to sleep but pushed himself up into a sitting position before he could, his muscles groaning from the sudden movement.  
"Lance," Keith whined, but reluctantly got up too," No, stay in bed with me"  
He smiled at Keith and ran a hand through the red paladin's hair, lightly pecking him on the lips.  
"That sounds very tempting, but we can't and you know that. Rain check?"  
Keith cracked a smile.  
It was moments like these that made Keith wonder if it was real. He had landed the most wonderful boyfriend ever, and although they did have their fights, it always worked out in the end. All the hurt that he had gone through, the abandonment, the betrayal…He knew that he wouldn't mind going through all that again if it would land him here.  
Keith got up, the bed sheets covering him falling, and immediately regretted it when the cold air hit his body.  
"I told you to wear sweats and not just boxers" Lance scolded him when Keith dove under the sheets again.  
"I do what I want" Keith retorted.  
Contrary to his words, he reached over to grab Lance's jacket and wrapped it around himself. He then grabbed a random pair of sweats on the floor and pulled them on.  
The paladin kissed Lance on his cheek before he got up and began walking to the door. He checked that no one was in the hallway; he didn't want them to get caught.  
"By the way, I hate you for waking me up," Keith fully opened the door and walked out.  
"I love you too, babe"  
A soft laughter floated in from under the crack of the door, indicating that Keith had heard him.  
Keith quickly walked into his room, thanking the heavens that it was so close to Lance's.  
He stripped off his clothes and turned on the shower.  
Yes, it all seemed oh-so-perfect, except for the fact that they had to keep their relationship hidden.  
When Shiro had been confiding with Keith about his crush on the princess, Keith had urged him to just confess.  
"I can't. This is war; I- we can't be distracted because of a small liking," had been Shiro's response.  
After that conversation, Keith had decided that not telling Shiro about his crush on Lance would be the best possible thing. What the red paladin hadn't counted on, however, was that Lance would like him back. Or the fact that they would begin dating.  
Keith quickly showered and jumped out of the shower to dry himself.  
In all honesty, he hated the fact that they had to lie to the team; that he had to lie to Shiro, who is like a brother to him. What he did know was that he didn't want this to end, to be forced to be separated.  
Not when he was slowly learning why so many people loved the color blue. The blue that he got to see every time he went to sleep and every morning that he rose. The blue that reminded him of the ocean, slowly entrancing him and pulling him under. He had forgotten how to breathe without getting it in his system, forgotten how life was without Lance.  
After changing into his own clothes, he decided that he would wear his boyfriend's jacket as well. He paused for a second. He knew that this could expose them and their relationship, but Keith was getting tired of not being able to be close to Lance unless they were sneaking off at night or during the small breaks. He pushed the long sleeves close to his face; they smelled just like Lance, and in that second Keith had made his mind up. The red paladin zipped the jacket up and made his way to the dining room.  
He was surprised to see that Lance was already seated there and laughing with Hunk. Hunk got one look at Keith and abruptly stopped talking. The whole team turned to look at what made the happy fellow so silent, and all Keith could do was stare back at all of them.  
"What the quiznak are you doing wearing my jacket?" Lance accused, though Keith could see the small tug of his lips betraying his tone.  
It almost made Keith smile. Almost.  
"Maybe if you used your brain one of these days, you'd remember that you dirtied mine yesterday. So I took yours. If you have a problem with that maybe we can solve it in the training room. Though I don't think that would last long…"Keith smirked and made his way into the kitchen to grab some goo.  
"Keith,"Shiro warned, "you two need to learn to get along."  
Lance scrunched his nose up as Keith sat next to him.  
"I'll get along with him once he stops being such a jerk" Lance moved his leg so that their knees were touching. He then discreetly lowered his hand under the table to grab Keith's.  
"Yeah, right. I'm the jerk, sure. " Keith used his right hand to grab the spork and began to eat the goo.  
Everyone returned to their normal conversations and Lance made an effort to talk to Hunk without revealing that he was holding hands under the table.  
"So Keith," Pidge slid up next to him, " How does it feel to wear Lance's jacket. If anything you should have dirtied his back instead of wearing it."  
Pidge rose an eyebrow at him. Keith coughed, almost choking on his goo. But his sudden movement made him yank Lance towards him. Both boys quickly let go of each other's hands, knowing how it would look.  
"What the hell man! Why'd you pull on me!?" Lance demanded, trying his hardest not to let his act slip and rub Keith on his back.  
"I was choking! I accidentally grabbed your shirt, big deal," Keith turned his back to Lance completely. He had taken too many risks this day.  
Pidge, however, did not seem convinced. If anything the sly look on her face intensified.  
She got up to put her tray back but quickly whispered to Keith, "Something's going on here, and I'm going to find out what."  
By the way Lance's back stiffened, he had obviously heard too. Keith knew that Pidge was just teasing and that if she did ever find out when they told her about the circumstances, she'd probably have their back as well. Even so, Keith preferred no one else knowing, so if they did slip up, it'd be on them.  
________________________________________  
"Today we'll be practicing hand to hand combat" Shiro turned to Keith and placed a hand on his right shoulder.  
"Keith you'll be training with Hunk and Lance. I'll be taking Pidge and Allura"  
Lance and Hunk fist-bumped and playfully pushed each other around.  
"From where we left off last time? You take left and I take right?" Keith shifted his footing.  
Shiro nodded and everyone began walking to take their positions. Keith was about to join the two boys when he felt an arm circle his shoulder. He looked up and saw Shiro trying to look nonchalant as he led him towards the door.  
"Hey what's up?" Keith tried to shrug his arm off to get him halt, but Shiro kept a tight grip on his shoulder. They paused when they came in front of the doors, out of earshot from everyone else.  
"Okay, so this might seem selfish of me, but I need to ask you something." Shiro turned Keith around so that they were standing face to face.  
"Yeah, sure. Just tell me what's wrong?" Keith stepped closer. It wasn't like Shiro to act like this, so to say it made Keith a bit nervous was an understatement.  
"So you remember how I told you I liked Allura a tiny bit?"  
Keith nodded.  
Pink began to dust the man's cheeks and he rubbed the back of his neck, a small nervous smile making itself known," Well, you see I was wondering if you and I could have a small sparring session. Just to like impress her a bit."  
"I thought that we couldn't have relationships like that, not when we're fighting this war." Keith felt a spark of hope in his chest suddenly burst into a fire. This might be it; if Shiro just changed his mind, even just a little…  
Before Shiro could respond, an arm snaked its way around Keith's shoulders.  
"Lance? What are you doing?" Shiro asked, surprised.  
"Shiro I'm so sorry. I have to steal Keith for a bit. I just remembered he took something of mine that is very dear and he needs to return it right this second" Lance quickly yelled out as he dragged Keith out of the room.  
Once they were out of the room, the blue paladin's arm went from Keith's shoulders to around his waist.  
It seemed like all the important men in his life had decided that today was the day to drag him around like he was a ragged doll.  
Lance took them to the dining room area before he dropped his arm.  
"What the hell was that?"  
"What the hell was what?"  
Lance let out an irritated sigh, "that! I don't know what you were saying to Shiro or what he was saying to you, but I didn't like it one bit!"  
Keith chuckled," He was just telling me about how there's someone on this ship he might have feelings for. No need to get jealous."  
It seemed like Keith's answer only made things worse. "Of course there is," Lance placed a hand on Keith's hip, "Have you ever considered it could be you? I saw the way he was looking at you."  
This was not a new topic for both of them. If in fact, it was something that had worried Lance the moment they started dating. Keith had to reassure Lance that all Shiro was to him was a big brother. However, an ex of Lance had said something similar to him once, and about three months later broke up with Lance for another boy. So, to say that Lance was wary was a little bit of an understatement.  
"It's not me, I can guarantee that. He was just asking me for advice. Though…I like this jealous side of you. Maybe I should talk to other men who flirt with me more often, like, I dunno, maybe Alec?"  
Lance made a disgusted face.  
Alec had been an alien they had met when landing on planet Xmoct for a break. This had occurred about 2 weeks into their relationship. They had all decided to go to a small dance club nearby and had met Alec there. He was half-galra and half of some other species that they had no clue even existed.  
Lance had been talking to a pretty alien, asking about how to create a perfect date. Keith, however, had misinterpreted the situation and had believed Lance had just reverted to his old flirting.  
When Alec had approached Keith, the red paladin didn't even hesitate to flirt back. That situation had caused their first fight that almost got them caught as a couple.  
"Don't even mention that name," Lance frowned and Keith couldn't help but let out a big laugh.  
Keith circled his arms around Lance's neck and pulled him down. He kissed him lightly before adding more pressure. Lance pulled Keith closer by the waistband of his jeans.  
"We should get back, "Keith pulled away.  
"Or, we could go back to my room. We could just say we were looking for what you took and you got mad and said it might be in my room," Lance began to kiss him again.  
"And just what did I steal?"  
Lance broke the kiss, pretending like he was looking far off in the distance, "My heart."  
Keith looked up." Is that so? Then how about I give you mine in return?"  
The blue paladin intertwined their fingers, "Yep. We're definitely going to my room. They probably won't even notice we're gone."  
Keith reached back and pulled the hood of Lance's jacket over his head, "I really like your jacket. I think I'm gonna keep it." Keith began to play with the sleeve on his left hand.  
"Babe, it was yours the moment you put it on."


	2. Sleep my child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Its 1:21 am, so my writing is not at its peak, but I really wanted to write this chapter out. Please enjoy~

The control room was chilly, and the atmosphere was heavy as the Voltron team walked through their attack strategy with the holograms.  
Pidge was typing away at her laptop, a small chip connected to the side of the device. Why she was not being scolded for not listening with her full attention to the plan puzzled Lance. Keith nudged him a bit to regain his attention.  
"Please remember that this is an important mission. These people have been under Galra rule for many years, so there may be some citizens that will be fighting against us. Our top priority is to keep the citizens safe," The princess softly planted her palms on the table, "After that, we attack and drive the galra out."  
Pidge suddenly jumped up, unplugging the chip from her laptop, " It's done!"  
She handed the chip carefully to Shiro.  
"Keith," Shiro stepped forward," we will need to you to infiltrate the main ship. With you being part-galra, you'll be able to get access to the control room."  
Shiro gave Keith the small chip, "With this Pidge will be able to hack into their system. Hopefully, we'll be able to find something that will help us be one step ahead or something about where Matt and his father could be."  
Keith took the chip and inspected it. It was almost shaped like a square, except for a small rectangular part that Keith assumed he was supposed to plug in. The lines on the chip looked delicate and smooth, all overlapping and intertwining with each other.  
The red paladin quickly shoved the chip into his glove so that it was flat against his palm and wouldn't become lost. He experimentally closed his fist, and the chip didn't seem affected, so Keith decided this was the best hiding place for now.  
"I want to infiltrate a ship too! Guess I'll be going with Keith then," Lance piped up.  
"Oh, on the contrary," Coran, who had been sitting down, stood up," I'm afraid Keith will have to make this trip alone."  
Coran began to pull up an image, "You see, Keith is half galra, so when he lands on the ship, he won't be detected as an intruder."  
"Wait," Hunk shook his head in confusion, "since when do the ships alert the galra of non-galra intruders?"  
Pidge looked as equally confused, and Lance just looked plain worried.  
"This is a special type of ship. King Alfor and Zarkon were working on it before… before the tragedy. I was able to recognize a few in our last battles, but I didn't mention it to anyone other than the princess because I didn't want to cause any panic. Unfortunately, the scans I have taken has proven to be the same as the designs that were worked on long ago. I can go get them-" Keith cut him off.  
Coran was a man who had been King Alfor's companion for a long time. He most undoubtedly had witnessed the fall of Altea and had been asked by Alfor himself to look after Allura. Although he seemed very nonchalant when mentioning these ships, it was almost certain that it brought painful memories to him.  
"We trust you, Coran, and Shiro? Can you please place Lance somewhere far away from the ship? I don’t want him messing anything up while I'm on a stealth mission."  
Lance narrowed his eyes towards his boyfriend, knowing exactly why he had asked for such a favor. This was obviously an immensely important mission. And, if something were to go wrong, Lance knew he would drop everything to save Keith, and it was no secret that Keith would do the same for Lance.  
"Lance and Hunk," Pidge placed a hand on each of the named males' shoulders, "since they can socialize easily, will be helping the citizens move to a safer location where they won't feel the brunt of the battle, so you two won't even have to interact nor have the chance for a petty fight."  
This statement didn't do anything to calm Lance's nerves at all. He understood that this is war, and in war, there is always casualties. However, Keith had become someone important to him; someone who he wanted to take home to his parents. He was the person Lance wanted to wake up every day to, and he didn't know if he would be able to deal with losing Keith. He didn't even want to think about anything happening to Keith; it made him sick to his stomach.  
Keith was his sun, his light shining brightly in this vast darkness called space. He chased away Lance's shadows, insecurities, and nightmares. His warmth was something the blue paladin craved daily. It soothed him and burned him all at once. Lance wasn't saying that life with Keith was easy. If anything, it was a rollercoaster of new emotions and experiences.  
Even so, no matter how hectic it got, he didn't want this to end; not here and certainly not now. He wanted to be able to go back to Earth and live a long happy life with the red paladin.  
"Please be careful paladins" Allura repeated, "This is very important."  
Once Shiro made sure everyone fully understood the plan, they dispersed. Everyone went their own way to get changed into their armor. The blue paladin was jogging to his lion when Lance ran into Keith. He pulled on his arm, signaling the red paladin to halt.  
"Keith, please be careful. If anything goes wrong or feels off, even if it seems small, get out. Or contact me to back you up," Lance squeezed his hand.  
"Lance," Keith sighed, "Just focus on your part of the mission, okay?"  
Keith reached up to cup Lance's cheek with his left hand, "Plus, you have the coolest boyfriend in space; nothing can go wrong."  
Lance leaned down to kiss Keith. He knew the red paladin was never really good at conveying his emotions, so every time he tried to let Lance in, it made the blue paladin's heart flutter.  
"No more stalling. It's time to go," Keith murmured against his lips, "Be careful. I love you."  
It took a few seconds for Keith to register what he had said. Before Lance could respond, Keith had pulled away at lightning speed and was sprinting to his lion.  
The raven-haired boy felt his face heat up and his heart felt like it was beating too fast. Lance and Keith had been dating for a while now, but neither of them have ever said I love you to each other. Keith had always assumed Lance would be the first one to say it; the red paladin fully meant it, however, he was afraid as to how Lance would take it. Is Lance freaking out? Did he say it too soon?  
'Well it's too late to think about that now. What's done is done' Keith thought as he slid into his lion.  
______________________________________________________________________

"I'm in," Keith slid behind a small pillar. Getting in had seemed hard enough, so he hoped this mission could go smoothly from here on out.  
"Good. Now, you'll need to take the vents to get to the control room undetected," Pidge's voice crackled in his helmet.  
Keith nodded even though he knew Pidge couldn't see him. He looked up and spotted a vent. Using his bayard, he cut a small hole for him to fit in, making sure to take the cut piece up with him. Once the red paladin was in the vent, he tried his best to cover the hole with the cut circle piece of the vent.  
"Okay, Pidge. Which way?"  
He waited but there was no response. He tried again two more times before realizing that the coms were down.  
"Tch. Guess I'm on my own," Keith sighed and decided to take the vent on his left.  
Luck seemed to be on the red paladin's side because, after 5 minutes, he was able to find the room. He lifted the loose vent and peered inside.  
Knowing that he had no time to lose, he dropped down into the room. He grunted when his left foot hit a nerve, but tried his best to ignore the pain. He quickly crossed the room and found the control pad.  
He removed his glove and grabbed the chip before inserting it into the keyboard.  
"Keith, can you hear me now?" Pidge's voice was barely audible.  
"Very faintly, but I copy. I found the control room, and the chip is in." Keith lightly tapped his hurt leg to assess the damage.  
Before Keith could blink, he felt a gun on his back. The red paladin froze.  
"What did you plug in? Who are you?" a soldier demanded, and from what Keith could gather, he was the only one here. Keith decided to quickly swivel around and kick the soldier upside the head, knocking him out cold.  
"Just give me two minutes to hack into their systems," Pidge's keyboard could be heard from how fast she was typing.  
"How about just one minute? It seems I have some unwanted company, and my leg isn't in the best condition," Keith quickly spoke into the mic, the door in front of him opening to reveal 3 more guards.  
"Your leg's messed up?" Pidge asked, but Keith didn't get to respond because a blast from a soldier knocked his helmet off. Keith put up his shield and activated his bayard.  
He didn't think twice before charging into battle. He managed to knock two of the guards easily. The third one put up a big fight, however. He had landed some good punches on Keith, almost killing him in a few instances.  
The soldier quickly discarded his gun and pulled out a dagger. Keith tried his best to keep him at bay, but with his leg, it was easier said than done.  
The soldier suddenly dropped to the floor and swung his leg out, catching Keith's feet. Keith fell back, and in the next 3 seconds, the dagger was at his neck.  
The soldier didn't seem to want to end him and just kept the dagger there. Keith was thinking of a fool-proof escape plan without having the weapon stab his neck when he heard the most disturbing voice.  
"So…this is the thing that was able to pass our security systems," an old woman in a robe walked into the room.  
"Haggar," the soldier greeted, not moving an inch from his position.  
"What's this?" Haggar reached out an arm and grabbed Keith's face roughly.  
"A half-breed," the witch sneered," Such disrespect to the superior race that the galra is."  
Haggar dropped Keith's face with a push, causing Keith to hit the back of his head roughly.  
The control room screen beeped the small jingle Pidge had created, notifying Keith that she had successfully gotten the information.  
"He plugged something in!?" Haggar kicked the soldier, who went flying until he hit the wall," You useless piece of trash! Why didn't you inform me about this!"  
Using her distraction to his advantage, Keith stood and unplugged the chip, slipping it back to it's hiding place.  
Haggar, fuming, turned to Keith, something black stirring in her hands. A hole was suddenly ripped on the side of the ship, revealing the blue lion. Keith bent down to slip his helmet on as Lance ran out of his lion.  
As Keith was slipping on his helmet, he didn't notice that Haggar had been aiming her magic at him. He didn't notice until he heard Lance yell,"No!"  
Keith looked up just in time to see Lance run in front of him to take the hit. The red paladin felt the blood drain from his face as Lance fell into his arms  
This was certainly a day Keith would never forget.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to the kind people who left kudos and commented. There's more fluff to come!


	3. Chapter 3

Keith looked down at the fallen boy in his arms. There seemed to be no signs of blood, only that Lance was unconscious and his breathing was labored.  
Without hesitation, he swiftly adjusted Lance in his arms and ran to the blue lion. Blue, sensing her paladin was in danger, opened up and let the two boys in.  
He ran in and sat down on the chair, not letting Lance go for a second. He quickly set Blue on autopilot, hoping they'd make it to the castle without any distractions.  
On the screens, he could see Haggar recharging her magic into a big ball.  
"Blue, let's go now!" he yelled and pulled Lance closer. The lion began its trip back to the castle in a zig-zag pattern to confuse the witch's aim.  
Keith turned on his helmet's communicator.  
" Shiro, we got what we came for. We leave now. Coran, can you hear me? Pidge? Someone-," his shaking voice broke," someone please set up a healing pod."  
He shut his com off again and took the helmet off. His hands shook as he silently pleaded that whatever Haggar had done could be reversed.  
Lance coughed violently and his breath became fainter.  
"Lance, sweetheart, open your eyes. Or move your hand- Give me a sign that you're okay…"Keith kissed Lance's forehead lightly before wiping at his teary eyes.  
Blue's mouth opened without warning, startling Keith, whose attention was solely focused on Lance. He looked up to realize that they had arrived at the castle.  
"Oh thank god," the red paladin breathed out. He hoisted Lance up once again and ran out of the lion. Coran and Allura ran to them, Pidge skidding around the corner.  
"What the hell happened?" Pidge's voice rose an octave.  
"A witch-Haggar happened. Coran, please help him," Keith released Lance a bit so that Coran could get a look at him.  
"Let's take him to the Med-bay so that I can inspect him better. It seems that his breathing is not stable. This could be bad," Coran checked Lance's pulse before looking up at Keith.  
Keith could tell that his face was probably pained and scared by the way Allura and Pidge were looking at him.  
"Do you think you could run to the Med-bay with him? We need to get there quickly"  
"Yes!" Keith didn't wait another second before he took off running.  
Once they got there, Keith slowly placed Lance on a table. However, he held onto his left hand while Coran ran a few tests. After what felt like an eternity, Shiro and Hunk burst into the room.  
Hunk ran to his friend's side, "What the hell happened?!"  
"He took a shot for me." Keith felt like hurling as the memory of Lance getting hit replayed in his mind on repeat. He angrily let go of Lance's hand and stormed up to Shiro.  
"I thought he was as far away from me as possible! How the hell was he able to get to me, huh?!" Keith demanded as he grabbed two fistfuls of Shiro's shirt, shaking him.  
One of Coran's devices began to beep like crazy before a quick 'quiznak' was heard.  
"Boys, help me. Lance needs a healing pod now." Coran dropped his device and ran to set up a pod.  
Hunk lightly grabbed Lance and ran after Coran. It only took a few seconds to set the pod up and actually get the blue paladin inside.  
"What's wrong with him?" Shiro shook Keith off and walked towards the pod.  
"A small poisoning. The pod will get rid of it easily. However, what Lance was hit with was sleeping magic. The only reason Lance's body is reacting like this is because that shot was meant for someone with galran DNA. The pod should also help minimize the sleeping magic," Coran tapped the glass.  
"You mean to tell me he was just hit with magic meant to put someone to sleep? That's all?" Keith felt a weight lift off his shoulders at the news.  
Keith had to keep repeating the phrase 'He's just sleeping' in his head to calm his nerves down.  
He let out a heavy sigh before calmly repeating his unanswered question, "How was Lance able to get to me in such short time when he was supposed to be as far away as possible?"  
"Pidge told us that she lost communication with you, and Lance wanted to check on you, but we still had citizens to move. When we were able to contact you again, everyone was able to hear the commotion, and Lance was gone faster than I've ever seen him," Hunk stared at Lance, a solemn expression on his face.  
"By the way, how's your leg?" Shiro asked.  
"I'm not sure," Keith put pressure on his left foot, and, with the adrenaline from worrying about Lance gone, found the pain to be unbearable," I think just I landed wrong. I don't believe anything twisted or is broken."  
Nonetheless, Shiro sat the red paladin down and inspected his leg. There had been numerous times at the Garrison where Keith was on the brink of death because he didn't care enough about his injuries when he felt there were other important matters at hand.  
"You sprained it. Coran, do we have anything for sprained ankles?" Shiro stood up, his knees cracking.  
"As a matter of fact, we do!"  
Coran began to rummage in one of the many shelves on the wall. He pulled a bottle of pills out and opened the bottle before handing a pill to Keith.  
"Drink this, and in a few hours your ankle should be as good as new."  
"Thank you. Quick question; how long with Lance be in there?" Keith motioned to the pod with his head.  
"From his vital readings, I'd say about 3 to 4 vargas" Coran closed the cap on the bottle and placed it in its original spot.  
Pidge entered the room, lightly scratching the back of her head.  
"So Coran, how is he?" she began to check his vitals.  
"Should be fine. Something I've been thinking about…Shiro, do you possibly think that Haggar was aiming the magic at Keith to try and take him captive? I mean, the magic was meant for a Galra" Coran tugged at his mustache.  
"It was just because I was there. I'm pretty sure I won't become a target or anything" Keith took one last look at Lance before walking out of the room.  
Keith needed a moment to himself; the incident had really freaked him out. His heart felt like it had stopped, yet was running at a thousand miles per second at the same time.  
The ocean that usually gave him warmth had wrapped its hands around the red paladin's neck and squeezed. It dragged him under, enclosed him, and made the world quiet. It was not the same peacefulness Lance brought to his heart. Instead, it was the feeling of fear and of emptiness at the possibility of losing Lance.  
Keith shook his thoughts away and mumbled, "I need to train for a bit."  
_________________________________________________________________

The rest of the day had seemed to drag on, and Hunk had insisted on staying close to the pod since everyone seemed to be elsewhere. Pidge had joined him about an hour before, wanting someone company and constructive criticism on her ideas.  
The two paladins had been sitting on the ground eating goo in front of Lance's pod, discussing new ways to improve the castle's defense system, when the pod's glass suddenly opened.  
Hunk immediately let go of the plate and jumped up, catching his best friend before he could hit the ground.  
"Pidge!" Hunk cried out.  
Pidge put her plate down, "On it! I'll go get everyone!"  
She quickly ran out of the room not bothering to take the plates with her.  
"Hey buddy, how are you feeling?" Hunk held Lance up and wrapped an arm under him to keep him steady.  
Groggy, the blue paladin rubbed his eyes. His whole body felt like jelly, and his head felt foggy.  
"I feel like I slept for years. What happened to me?" Lance pulled away and stood by himself. His legs shook a bit, so Hunk quickly grabbed again, and this time Lance accepted the support.  
"You were hit with sleeping magic. It was only meant for someone with galran DNA, so your body reacted to it like it was poison. The pod was able to handle it though." Hunk, once sure that Lance could stand on his own, bent down to pick the plates up and place them on the medical table.  
Pidge burst into the room, Shiro, Coran, and Allura behind her.  
They all took turns and hugged him and congratulated him for waking up. There seemed to be only one person that was missing from this scene. Lance stared at the door, but it became obvious that no one else was going through come through there. His chest tightened and stomach suddenly dropped. The urge to vomit took over.  
"H-hey guys," Lance's shaky voice rang out, "where is Keith?"  
Everybody began to look at each other. No one had actually seen Keith or heard from him since Lance was put in a pod. The looks and silence made Lance even more queasy.  
"Oh god. Was I too late?!" tears began to well in the blue paladin's eyes.  
"No, Lance you-" Hunk started, but then his best friend burst into hard crying.  
He backed up until his body hit the pod's door and slid to the floor sobbing. He began to babble what seemed like nonsense to his teammates.  
Everyone froze in shock; no one had ever seen Lance cry and didn't really know how to handle the situation.  
"Lance," Pidge reached out to pat his back, "we can't understand you when you talk like that. What's wrong?"  
Right at that moment, the door slid open to reveal Keith with a towel to his head, hair wet from a shower.  
Lance sniffled and looked up, and when Keith caught sight of his tear-soaked eyes, he dropped the towel and quickly kneeled in front of him.  
"Lance, what's wrong?! Does something hurt?" Keith looked over to Coran, "Could it be the pod didn't fully fix everything?"  
Lance threw himself on Keith and wrapped his arms around his shoulders.  
"T-they said y-you were dead." He wailed. Lance felt so relieved that he had made it in time, that Keith was safe, sound, and alive.  
"What? Why would they say that?" Keith looked up to Hunk, who looked incredulous.  
"We never said such a thing!" Allura protested," We didn't say anything in fact. We just didn't know where you were, so no one had the chance to say anything."  
Lance kept crying. He knew that what the witch had thrown was sleeping magic, but if it hadn't been, and Keith had been hit, this would be the current situation, except Keith wouldn't be hugging him. He squeezed Keith harder, afraid he could slip from him at any moment.  
"Well, what's important is that Lance is awake," Keith gently squeezed Lance back and began to rub his back. The red paladin pulled his boyfriend up with him.  
"He's probably really tired, so I'll take him to his room to rest." Keith led the still sobbing Lance out of the room; Keith wrapped an arm around Lance's waist, the door shut silently behind them.  
The awkward tension remained in the room and it seemed to suffocate everyone.  
"Is it me, or did Keith seem like super caring and worried?" Pidge nudged Shiro a bit.  
"A little bit. I doubt it's nothing, though. Keith would tell me if he was dating someone…right?" He looked down at Pidge who looked away.  
"Right?!" Shiro repeated the question to Hunk who just shrugged his shoulders.


	4. Just a push

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm posting this on the 30th of December, so most of you will probably read this on the 31st of December.  
> If you read this on December 31, 2017, Happy New Years Eve!!

The walk to Keith's room was an emotional one. While Lance was crying his eyes out, Keith's heart was still beating fast for several reasons. In all honesty, Keith was still scared that Lance would fall down in his arms again at any second. He feared that the magic that had hit Lance might still be affecting him, just undetected. For all they knew, Lance could be dying slowly inside and none of them had any idea.  
The red paladin shuddered at the thought and made a promise to himself to not leave his boyfriend's side for more than half an hour for the next weeks or so.  
As paladins of Voltron, of course, they had always encountered dangerous situations that required for the team to commit risky decisions. The healing pod usually took care of anything and everything that hurt them. However, ever since the two boys had started dating, risky decisions began to look like extremely bad ones and were quickly ruled out by the other. Feeling anxious when something small went wrong turned into something common for the two, not that they let the team catch on about it.  
They slowly trudged towards the red paladin's room, Keith making sure that Lance wasn't going too fast or hurting himself. Finally, the two boys came to a halt for a second until the door to Keith's room slid open. They entered the small, not surprisingly, clean room. Keith sat Lance down on his bed before walking to lock the door.  
"Hey, love." Keith cooed when he walked back. The red paladin sat down on the bed before grabbing his boyfriend's hand and running his thumb over the back of it. "What's wrong? I'm here, okay? So please stop crying-I don't like to see you sad."  
Lance scooted closer and wiped his tears away with his free hand. He began to take long, shaky breaths.  
"I didn't get to say it back," Lance whispered out as he calmed down.  
"What didn't you get to say back?"  
Keith crawled fully onto the bed. He placed himself with his back against the wall. He then pulled Lance to him, Lance's back to his chest, before wrapping his arms around him. From the way Lance was crying, Keith understood that he had been pretty scared, and he wanted Lance to feel as safe and supported as possible.  
"I didn’t get to say I love you back. A-and," His chest shook as he took another deep breath, " and if you had died and I never got to tell you how much I love you back, I don't know what I would have done. I didn't say it back, Keith! You could have taken that as rejection and I-"  
"Well then, it's a good thing I didn't die."  
"By the way, how's your leg? Didn't you hurt it?" Lance questioned.  
"It still sort of hurts," Keith muttered and rubbed his ankle. "When I first took the pill Coran gave me, my leg was instantly numbed and I didn't even feel the pain when I walked. However, when I started to train, I think that I messed my leg a bit more because the pain started to return. I think I'll be good though." Keith squeezed Lance a little bit more.  
Lance leaned back into him, and they stayed like that for a few minutes; the only sounds breaking the peaceful silence were Lance's sniffles and shaky breaths, but other than that, they both felt pretty comfortable.  
"Keith?"  
"Hmm?" Keith hummed.  
"I really love you, but if you ever die on me, I will make it my personal mission to revive you and kill you myself," The blue paladin yawned out.  
Keith snorted. "You're the one who took the hit. I'm still really mad at you for that. You could have died."  
Lance leaned to his side and Keith understood that he wanted to lay down. Once their bodies fully hit the mattress Lance took the opportunity to turn his body around so that he was facing Keith.  
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again." Lance snuggled into Keith's chest, draping an arm over his torso.  
Keith knew it was a white lie, but he didn't comment on it. He didn't want to fight; not now when it felt like they had escaped the soft touch of death. Nonetheless, Keith knew hearing Lance fully promise it would calm his worrying heart.  
"What won't happen again?"  
Lance took a few seconds to ponder before whispering, "You being in a situation like that. It won't happen again; if I have to fight Shiro to let me go with you, so be it. But no more solo missions for you."  
The red paladin rolled his eyes, heart fluttering. Keith ran his fingers through Lance's growing hair for a few minutes until soft snores could be heard. A small smile tugged at his lips; if something like this had happened before, Lance would have probably tried to deal with it by himself. Now, he confided with Keith about almost anything. He was glad it was Lance who caught his eye, and even more thankful that he was the one Keith fell in love with.  
Before Keith knew it, his eyes began to struggle to stay awake, and he too fell deep into sleep.  
_________________________________________________________________________________

By the time the two paladins awoke from their deep slumber it was late, and they scrambled to get to dinner.  
"Seriously, Keith! You could have woken us up earlier. I want to get one of Hunk's pastries before everyone else eats them!" Lance whined as he shoved on Keith's pair of slippers and ran out the door.  
"Sorry for getting the rest my body needs. And you weren't exactly complaining about getting to Hunk's pastries a few minutes ago until I yanked the blankets off of you," Keith jogged behind Lance towards the dining area.  
"Well, yeah! I didn't know the time," Lance tripped and felt Keith steady him from behind.  
Hunk and Pidge had recently been working on a machine that would be able to replicate Earth's desserts and bread, such as pancakes, cupcakes, and toast. They had tested it out a few days prior, and it worked perfectly; they had been able to have chocolate chip pancakes at midnight because of the beautiful machine that the geniuses created.  
"Oh crap!" Lance exclaimed and suddenly stopped, almost causing Keith to fully slam into him.  
"Love, what's wrong? Does something hurt?" Keith grabbed his boyfriend's hand, turning him around to face him.  
"Are you okay running like this? I didn't even think to not run..." Lance squeezed Keith's hand.  
Lance sighed when Keith gave him a confused look.  
"Your leg, " Lance motioned towards it.  
"I barely feel the pain, "Keith shrugged. "Let's go, or you won't get anything except goo. "  
Lance shifted his weight from his right foot to his left foot, not sure if he should believe Keith, who was known for downplaying his injuries all the time.  
"Okay," Lance clicked his tongue. "But if it started hurting a lot, just tell me."  
"Yeah, sure. Now let's go! I want some pastries too," Keith tugged on Lance's hand, and in the blink of an eye, they were both running again.  
______________________________________________________________________________  
The doors slid open as the blue paladin ran in, eyes scanning the room for the desserts. Everyone else sat at the table eating their goo and chatting amongst each other  
"Hey Lance," Hunk smiled and got up upon hearing the soft swish of the opening door. He walked over to his friend and engulfed him in a bear hug.  
"Are they gone?" Lance pouted when his best friend let him go.  
"The muffins?Nope. In fact, we saved a whole plate just for you!" Allura chirped from where she sat.  
Keith, who had come a few seconds after, had taken the liberty to grab them both a plate of goo. The red paladin sat down next to Pidge and sighed, still rubbing out the sleep from his eyes. Lance stayed standing up and chatting with Hunk while Allura stood up to look for said plate.  
"How weird…" Pidge commented, catching Keith's attention.  
When she saw that he was fully listening, she continued, "You and Lance just…happened to be late to dinner together…"  
Keith felt his face flush," It's not like that!"  
"Oh! And what's this?" She asked with fake curiosity. "He's wearing your paladin slippers. Weird indeed."  
Keith turned to make eye contact, "What are you suggesting?"  
Pidge had always been one to know when something was going on. She caught on to certain situations more quickly than others. And if she was sure of one thing at the moment, it was that Keith had the hots for Lance.  
She had also caught Lance staring at Keith like he was the love of his life at times as well.  
She would have thought they would have caught onto each other's pining, but apparently, that was not the case.  
"Suggesting? Me?" Pidge scoffed.  
Keith raised an eyebrow before he began to eat.  
"Just a quick question? What are your thoughts on Lance? In terms of, um, more than friends?" Pidge asked.  
The sudden question resulted in Keith spitting his food out, and caused everyone to look at the duo.  
"Oh geez, Pidge! What did you do to him?" Lance questioned as he made his way to his boyfriend. He softly patted the red paladin's back until the soft coughing ceased.  
"I think it's more of a 'what-was-he-thinking' thing than a 'what-did-I-ask-him' thing" Pidge smiled.  
“No…” Keith took a deep breathe, “ What the hell are you thinking?! Asking weird questions like that !”  
“You said it yourself. Weird, not disgusting,” she wiggled her eyebrows.  
“What did she say?” Lance lightly shook Keith’s shoulders.  
He waited a few seconds, but when the red paladin didn’t answer, Lance began shaking him a bit harder.  
“Come on! What did she ask you ?” He whined.  
“Lance, stop shaking the poor boy,” Shiro reprimanded, but was surprised Keith hadn’t snapped at Lance for bothering him yet.  
“Lance, Keith,” Allura interrupted, “ we made different kinds of cupcakes for you.”  
Allura returned and walked towards the small clustered group before she lightly pushed Lance to sit down and set the plate in front of him.  
“Wow. A beauty and cupcakes. Can this day get any better?” Lance looked up at Allura and winked.  
"No…" Keith glanced at Pidge, "but it sure can get worse."  
Pidge chuckled," It can get so much better if you just admit what you really want to yourself."  
Lance grabbed a chocolate cupcake before facing Keith.  
"You want something? What is it?" Lance fully turned to face Keith and gave him his full attention.  
Keith pretended to contemplate his answer. He really wanted to tease Lance and ask for a kiss, but he couldn't do it. Not in front of their current crowd. It still didn't change the fact that Keith wanted to tease him.  
"Hmm…A boyfriend. I want a hot alien boyfriend," he lied.  
"Seriously?" Lance asked with fake interest.  
"Oh! Are you talking about Alec?" Hunk piped up.  
At the mention of his name, Lance flinched, which didn't go unnoticed by those around him.  
Lance's nose wrinkled in disgust, " He wasn't even that attractive."  
"Lance, even Shiro thought he was hot, right? " Pidge turned towards Shiro who gave a small nod.  
"Keith, you were really into him…," Shiro turned towards Allura, a teasing smile on his lips, "Should we revisit the planet and reunite the two lovebirds?"  
"Nope! We need to focus on defeating Zarkon," Lance called out, making Keith chuckle.  
"Since when are you against love?" Hunk raised an eyebrow.  
Lance began to stutter. He knew that he should probably just keep quiet before he revealed anything. However, with Keith laughing at him, he would undoubtedly expose their relationship as a form of embarrassing Keith too.  
"Who says it's love," Keith grabbed a vanilla cupcake and began to eat.  
"Oooh. Bad boy Keith," Pidge playfully shoved him, " Breaking hearts one by one. Since when did you switch roles with Lance?"  
"Okay, children. Enough of this chitter chatter. Finish your meals," Coran stood up and took all the empty plates with him.  
"We have a new team building exercise today, so everyone, please get as much food fuel as possible," Allura walked towards the door, and silently tapped Shiro so he could follow her out.  
"Pidge, would you come outside as well?" the princess called.  
"Oooh. Pidge, what did you do this time?" Lance teased, and she flipped him the bird as the doors closed behind her. Pidge dusted her shirt, walking towards the duo a few feet away from the door.  
"What's wrong, Princess?" Shiro softly questioned as soon as Pidge joined them.  
"Is there something going on with Keith and Lance? It seems like they're getting along a bit better than before. And in all honesty, their teamwork has improved significantly! I was just wondering if you knew what they were doing. Training together more? Just so that the whole team could benefit from this."Allura took out a notepad, ready to write down suggestions.  
"Princess, I think they are doing something different that only works for them." Pidge chuckled, making Shiro curious.  
"What ever do you mean? Could we adjust it so that the whole team could do it?"Allura asked, confused.  
"I think Keith and Lance like each other," Pidge stated flatly.  
Allura's eyebrows raised significantly, "Oh! They're in that type of relationship?"  
"No, I think that they are clueless about each other's feelings considering how they are acting."  
"I knew I couldn't be the only one getting that vibe from them," Shiro shook his head, "I thought I was going crazy."  
"Oh, so they feel the same way…"Allura nodded, "So why haven't they told each other?"  
"They're probably scared of rejection,"Shiro commented.  
"I was, you know, just casually thinking…we could, oh, I don’t know...give them a push?" Pidge suggested a bit too excitedly.  
"Why would we push them?" Allura asked, seeming a bit shocked."Is this a human tradition?"  
Shiro let out a humored sigh, "It's a saying, Princess. Meaning to guide them to do certain things. "  
"Interesting," the princess commented.  
And indeed, things were about to get very interesting.


	5. Plans and plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I miss seeing all the Texas Keith memes in my feed~  
> Anyway here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

"So your plan is to get them together?" Hunk whispered, even though the group was alone in the control room.  
"You make it sound like this is something I want to force on them," Pidge frowned, crossing her arms. Hunk shifted his weight, his nervousness making it known that wasn't the way he meant it.  
Shiro placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze.  
"Hunk does make a point, though. Our first priority before this whole nonsense begins, is to figure out if they like each other in the first place." Shiro dropped his hand.  
"I agree,"Allura stepped forward," I'm all for their love, but what if our hunch is wrong and we are forcing them to do something neither wants?"  
"Are you serious?! Have you seen how they act around each other?" Pidge asked, exasperated.  
"Princess! They're here!" Coran, who was keeping an eye on the cameras, yelled out.  
A few seconds passed before the door opened with a small swish, and in walked both the red and blue paladin.  
"So this is where everybody ran off to," Lance ran a hand through his hair.  
"Y-yes!" Allura exclaimed. "Actually, we were just about to call you two over the coms."  
"There is a planet that we are to visit soon. We'll be there to stock up on supplies" Shiro informed the group. "So we'll be giving you a list of the materials we will need. After, you can all walk around and buy what you please. The only rule is to meet back at the castle before sundown. Are we clear?"  
Everyone mumbled their agreements while Coran walked around and handed each a piece of paper.  
"These contain the things that we need to restock on. Everyone has a fair split of the items," Coran explained.  
The team quickly looked over what items they had been assigned to.  
"Hey Keith," Lance threw his arm around Keith's shoulder, "we should shop together. Ya know, get everything faster."  
"That would actually slow you down-" Pidge began but got cut off.  
"And! I'll be making sure you're buying the correct items. You need to be babysat."  
Keith glared at him, but made no move to remove his arm, "You just don't want to walk around alone."  
"I'll shop with you, Lance" Hunk offered. This was a perfect opportunity to corner Lance and ask him about his might-be-crush.  
"Awww," Lance cooed. "Thanks, Hunk; this is why I love you."  
Keith's glare softened as he watched his boyfriend move to hug his best friend.  
"Hey, Keith, why don't you come shop with Hunk and me?" Lance asked, turning to Keith with a big smile on his face.  
Keith opened his mouth to say yes but hesitated.  
"I think I'll stick with Pidge. Knowing you, you'd probably talk my ear off, and this shopping trip is supposed to be relaxing."  
Lance frowned, not knowing what his boyfriend was playing at.  
"Fine, suit yourself. Didn't really want you there anyway."  
"All right! I've seen you two fight enough times to know this is where everything starts. We have about an hour before we reach planet Endof." Shiro said loudly, stopping the boys from making any further comments.  
After that everyone dispersed, each going off to do their own thing.  
Keith had almost made it to his room when he felt the familiar weight of a hand slipping into his.  
"Hey." Lance greeted, breathless from running to catch up with the red paladin.  
"What's up?" Keith asked as he opened the door to his room. He let Lance walk in first before he made sure to lock the door.  
Lance threw himself onto the bed and wrapped himself around a light coffee brown blanket he had come to love.  
"Why did you refuse my offer? I really wanted to go shopping with you," Lance sighed. Keith sat down and ran his left hand through Lance's hair.  
" I just thought you'd want some alone time with Hunk. He is your best friend, and I think you're entitled to some best-friend-lovin'. If it helps, I wanted to shop with you, too" Keith softly explained.  
He knew Lance missed hanging out with Hunk all the time, and he also knew that it killed him not being able to tell the Yellow Paladin about their relationship; the red paladin felt like sometimes he hogged Lance too much, and at other times, he wished Lance would never leave. It made Keith's heart clench just thinking that Lance was sacrificing his time from his best friend to run off to random, secluded parts of the castle. Something Keith wanted to do someday, was to disappear for a few hours so that Lance would have no other choice than hang out with his best friend instead.  
"Babe..." Lance's eyes softened. "You're the best boyfriend ever. Next time, though, it'll be just you and me, okay?"  
"Sounds perfect, love," Keith responded, leaning down kiss Lance.  
Lance pulled him closer until Keith was straddling him. Keith leaned down to deepen the kiss, and he felt Lance suck on his bottom lip. Keith moaned into the kiss and slowly slipped his hand under Lance's shirt. He felt Lance slightly shudder under him, and he didn't know if he should be turned on or happy that he was able to get a reaction from Lance from the smallest gestures.  
Keith pulled back from the kiss and began leaving butterfly kisses on the blue paladin's neck.  
"We really shouldn't do this right now," Keith whispered in between kisses.  
"Awww, come on," Lance began tracing circles on Keith's back.  
He felt Lance's hands crawl farther down until he felt a small squeeze on his ass, "I think we have enough time."  
Keith leaned back to look at Lance, " Why do you always go for my butt?"  
Lance smirked. "Because you have a cute butt."  
"Is that the only thing you like about me?" Keith pouted.  
Lance looked up towards the ceiling and pretended to contemplate over the simple question.  
"Yeah…I think that’s just about it."  
Keith snorted and let himself fall completely on Lance, causing the air to be knocked out of the unsuspecting paladin.  
Lance let out a small chuckle and wrapped his arms tightly around the boy of his dreams.  
____________________________________________________________

The bell rang as the door opened, and a few aliens turned to look at the two men walking in.  
"So," Hunk started as he picked up a small porcelain vase with lavender painted on the side. " It seems like you and Keith have been getting along better."  
" Yeah! He's actually not that bad once you get to know him," Lance grabbed a box of alien cookie-chips that Keith seemed to enjoy last time.  
"Oh, really? And the arguing? Is that like a friend thing?" Hunk eyed the box in Lance's hand, knowing that Lance didn't particularly like the macaroon-tasting cookie chip hybrid.  
"I guess you can say that." Lance ran his hand through his hair. "It's just something we do, but we don't hate each other, you know?"  
The blue paladin leaned down to put 2 boxes of it in his basket before picking the basket up. They had managed to find everything on their lists and were currently shopping for fun.  
"Uh-huh," Hunk hummed. It was indeed something Lance would not have said a few months ago; he would have denied even finding Keith a tiny bit civil.  
"I'm being serious!" Lance laughed.  
Hunk smiled. "Well, I'm glad you're getting along with Keith! But I have been meaning to ask you something."  
The two boys continued to walk down the aisle full of junk food. Lance nodded, giving permission for Hunk to continue.  
"Did you ever get over your crush on Keith?"  
Lance stiffened for a moment before shoving his left hand into his jean pocket.  
"When did I ever have a crush on him?" he asked nonchalantly.  
"At the Garrison. And now? Or I'm guessing. Because I know pining- Lance, and the Lance I see with Keith in pining, even if you try to hide it."  
The blue paladin felt a small spark of fear go through him. From what Lance saw, there were only two options. Deny everything, make Hunk more suspicious, and get caught. Or let Hunk believe Lance had a one-sided crush, which would explain his so-called recent behavior, and let Hunk keep thinking it's just that. A one-sided crush that would never turn into something more.  
"You caught onto that?" Lance inquired.  
"Yeah, you don't tend to be subtle when you're crushing on someone," Hunk mumbled as he read the back of a box that had caught his eye. He pondered for a moment whether to get the spicy or regular version before throwing both into the basket.  
Lance racked his brain to produce something that would be believable.  
"Do you think Keith noticed? Am I that obvious?" Of course, Lance was. Keith had been the one to confront Lance about his more flirty manners before they began to date. He had caught on to the fact that Lance liked him, a lot, which surprised Lance, who had thought Keith was just oblivious to his flirting.  
"Nah, I bet you'd have to be blunt for Keith to realize that you're crushing on him," the yellow paladin replied, and it made Lance smile.  
Lance had thought those exact thoughts before he got closer to Keith. The fact that he was able to know another side of Keith that even their teammates don't realize he has made his stomach feel tight and his heart skip a beat.  
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Lance placed a hand on Hunk's shoulder, causing the boy to look up. "But, just promise me you won't tell anyone. I mean, this is just a one-sided kind of thing, and for the sake of the team I'd like it to stay that way."  
Hunk sighed. "Lance, this crush has been going on for ages! I think we should do something about it."  
Lance quickly shook his head, " No, Hunk. You see, you don't understand. I don't know if Shiro has told you, but we're not allowed to date. Distracts us from focusing on the war. Shiro and Allura would never approve. "  
"What?" Hunk frowned. Shiro nor Allura had never said anything of the kind. He would have to ask them when they got back to the ship as to what that was about.  
"Actually Lance, dating is totally all-" Hunk got cut off by Shiro talking to them over the helmets.  
"Paladins, begin to return to the ship. We leave in five."  
The blue and yellow paladin's eyes widened and they ran to the cash register, paid for junk food they had shoved in the basket and proceeded to run towards the ship.

Once everyone reached the ship, Coran and Allura began to prepare for take-off. Hunk slid closer to Shiro and quickly whispered, "I need to speak to you about something. "  
Shiro raised an eyebrow, concerned. "Is it something serious? Did we assume wrong?"  
"No. We were right about Lance liking Keith. It's just something Lance said, but other than that I think we're good."  
Allura walked towards the pair before sitting with them.  
"Well," the princess started, " according to the mice, Keith is head-over-heels in love with Lance, but won't tell me anything other than that."  
"By the way, where is Keith?" Shiro looked around the room before adding, "and Lance?"  
Pidge entered the room with a screwdriver and something that looked half destroyed in her hand.  
"I just saw them walking towards the kitchen. How'd it go? Was I right or was I right?"  
Noticing that the duo was not in the room with them, Allura got up and walked to the control panel. The trio jumped when the doors slammed shut, trapping everyone in the room inside.  
"Don't freak out!" Allura walked over again. "It was me. Just making sure they don't walk in or overhear anything. So, where were we at?"  
"Actually!" Hunk interjected, " Lance said something about how nobody was allowed to date because it distracts us from fighting."  
Pidge snickered, "Is that his way of trying to get out of confessing?"  
"No no no. He actually mentioned you, Shiro," Hunk turned towards him.  
"Me? I never said that. I said something similar to Keith-Oh…" the realization hit him.  
"Why would you say that to Keith?" Pidge frowned and crossed her arms.  
"Because that was my own way of avoiding confessing to someone," Shiro quickly hissed out.  
"What was that?" Allura asked.  
"Nothing. Just that I was joking and maybe Keith took it seriously."  
"Guys!" Pidge began to hop from one foot to the other. "Do you know what this means?! Keith and Lance have talked about serious things like dating! Oh my god I was sooooo right! I'm such a genius. I really don't know how I can love myself more than I already do right now. "  
"Then let's proceed with the plan, genius. What did you have in mind?" Hunk questioned.  
"Let me go get my laptop! I have all my ideas there."  
Pidge nearly ran into the door before remembering that it was locked.  
"Allura! Open the doors!" Pidge's voice echoed.  
Once they opened, the green paladin zoomed down the halls so fast, you would've thought something was trying to kill her.  
Lance had become her best friend, and Keith was like a second older brother to her, so yeah, she sure as hell was excited. If anyone deserved happiness, it was the two dorks that held a special place in her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahahahahahaha.... -.- I literally stayed up late to finish this. My eyes were closing but I knew that if I slept I would forget what I wanted to write. I have no friends and I have no life~ *wipes away single tear*  
> If anyone wants to be friends:  
>  [My Tumblr](https://aesthetic--us.tumblr.com/)


	6. They know, we know, who else knows?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's currently 1 am, and I have a lab report, a final essay, and a project due tomorrow, but here I am, writing this chapter. I obviously have my priorities straight.

"So why exactly are we going to a space fair?" Keith asked, sinking into the soft mattress while playing with the string of the pillow above his head.  
The team had suddenly sprung the idea during breakfast. Pidge had mentioned hearing about it when the team went shopping a few days ago. Hunk, practically jumping in his seat, had immediately clung to the idea, trying to persuade everyone that it would be a nice break. Lance, feeding off from the excitement Pidge and Hunk had been oozing, began to make plans for the games and food they could eat there.  
Keith just stared at the trio, continuing to eat without comment. He would have at least though Allura or Shiro would have been more hesitant about just going to a place on a whim. On the contrary, they both thought it would be pleasant to attend a space fair.  
"We are going, Keith, because it would be a nice de-stressor for the team," Shiro told him, walking out of the bathroom from washing his teeth.  
Keith abruptly sat up. "Exercise is a great de-stressor!"  
"Yes, but it would be nice to do something different from training. Everyone agreed that it's a great idea," Shiro signaled with a dismissive hand as he searched for a shirt to sleep in.  
Keith opened his mouth, but Shiro interjected, "Plus, Lance seemed extremely excited."  
Keith closed his mouth for a second before frowning. "I could care less if he was." But after Shiro's comment, he didn't retort anymore. Shiro chuckled as he shrugged on his shirt. His mood seemed to turn a bit sour in the span of a few seconds, however.  
The black paladin sat on the edge of his bed and let out a loud sigh.  
"What's wrong?" Keith questioned, placing a hand on his right shoulder.  
"You would tell me if you liked someone, right?" Shiro turned so that he was sitting to make eye contact with Keith.  
Keith felt his heart drop. He retracted his hand and placed it under his thigh.  
"Why would you ask such a weird question?" He murmured.  
Shiro had been around Keith long enough to know what certain actions or facial expressions from Keith meant. He had spent months studying Keith's body language since the red paladin wasn't really known for opening up to people easily.  
"I may be wrong, but can you just answer me truthfully?" Shiro paused and placed a hand on Keith's thigh. "Do you like Lance?"  
Keith felt nauseous; it was his worse nightmare playing out. Shiro had caught onto them, and it was only a matter of time before everything went to shit.  
"Yeah. I mean, I don't hate him. I've been getting better at opening up to people, you know," Keith replied wobbly, trying to redirect the conversation in his favor.  
"Keith, you know that's not the kind of like I meant." Shiro let out a small breath, chuckling. He grabbed Keith's hand and gave it a small squeeze. "You know I'm here if you ever need to talk. And if you like Lance, that's totally okay."  
Keith felt lightheaded for a moment.  
"Wait." He frowned, " It is?"  
Shiro smiled softly. "Of course it is! I'll always support you no matter what. "  
Keith began to sputter, the feeling of hope filling his heart. "But you said that we couldn't date with the war going on and whatnot."  
The black paladin let go of Keith's hand and began to rub the back of his neck.  
"Oh, that?" He chuckled, " Allura- and- Well, I- um. Allura is very pretty and I was scared to even think about courting her; that wasn't in general, just me trying to avoid my own internal dilemma. Anyway, yes, it's important to not get distracted, but that doesn't mean to push aside all feelings of love."  
"Oh," was all Keith could say at the moment. All the time he had spent stressing, worrying about being caught, it now seemed so silly. Of course, Shiro would be understanding; out of everyone, he should have known the black paladin, his adoptive brother, would always have his back.  
"So? Lance, huh?" Shiro nudged Keith's shoulder.  
"Yeah." Keith breathed out.  
"I so knew it!" Shiro pumped his fist in the air.  
"What do mean you knew it?"  
Shiro smirked. "Well, it's very easy to tell when you're whipped. You can't hide anything from your older brother."  
Keith scoffed.  
"Are you thinking about confessing?"  
"I thought you already knew everything."  
"You already confessed!?"  
Keith hesitated. He needed to talk to Lance about this, even if it was okay to come out about their relationship.  
"No, but that proved my point that you don't know everything."  
"Anyway, " Shiro smiled and squeezed Keith's shoulder lightly. "Since we are going to a fair, might as well drag Lance along with you! It could be like a date."  
"I might try that," Keith lied. "It's getting late. I'll let you sleep."  
______________________________________________________________________________________________

"Shiro said what?"  
"Yeah, I know!" Keith whined.  
The two boys were currently in Keith's bed. Keith was on his back, while Lance comfortably laid his head on Keith's chest, both enveloped in a warm blanket.  
"Weird…Hunk was asking about my feelings for you as well."  
Keith looked down at Lance, "Do you think they know about us? I mean, obviously, we weren't good on the 'not-having-feelings' front. "  
"Oh my god." Lance sat up, taking the blankets with him and causing Keith to yelp as the cold air hit him.  
Lance looked down at his boyfriend and lightly shook him, "They think we're dense!"  
"What do you mean?" Keith asked, sitting up when he realized his boyfriend wasn’t going to lay back down anytime soon.  
"They think that we're too dense to realize each other's feelings. How could they!? Hunk of all people should know that I have the best intuition when it comes to love." Lance pouted.  
Keith snorted. "Yeah right. You didn't even realize I had a crush on you. Hell, I practically had to spell it out for you. "  
"In my defense, I was too worried about my feelings to think straight."  
"Pfft. Straight is the last way I'd ever think, " Keith joked. Lance stared at his boyfriend for a second before erupting with laughter.  
Once his laughter subsided Lance's eyes widened and he whispered, "joke."  
Keith sat there for a few seconds, recognizing that Lance needed a few seconds to gather his thoughts. It wasn't long before Lance began to snap his fingers, indicating he had a really good idea running through his head.  
"Keith, my love, my whole world. Would you be interested in playing a joke with me?" Lance grabbed Keith's hands excited.  
"What kind of joke?" Keith's asked, intertwining their fingers.  
"Well, judging from what's been going on recently, Hunk and Shiro might try to hook us up. Wait, they may not be the only ones…We can't trust anyone…" Lance blew out a puff of air.  
"Lance, as much as I'd love to hear your thoughts, do you mind grabbing that blanket on the edge of the bed? I'm really cold." Keith interrupted.  
"Huh? Oh yeah sure babe," Lance chirped.  
"But, as I was saying," the blue paladin continued while crawling to grab the blanket, " they're probably going to try to do all these things to set us up. "  
Lance threw the blanket towards Keith, which ended up smacking him right in the face. Keith glared at Lance for a second; the blue paladin has great aim, so he probably intended to smack him in the face in the first place.  
Lance crawled back and joined Keith under the warm blanket.  
"So, I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun if all their plans failed? We'd probably get free dates designed for one hundred percent romance. Then after we could pretend like nothing happened. That'll show them. Kind of like revenge for underestimating us, "Lance shrugged. Keith unfolded the new blanket and carefully draped it over both their bodies.  
"Free dates and then being able to mess with people after? Sounds like fun to me," Keith replied, laying back down on his pillow.  
"I thought so." Lance agreed, resuming his position before he got up.  
"You totally aimed that blanket at my face didn’t you?"  
"Yeah. I did" Lance sheepishly admitted.  
Keith aimlessly ran a hand through Lance's hair, "You better watch out because I'm totally going to get you back for that."  
"Do it and you'll be starting a prank war you won't be able to handle" Lance retorted.  
"I'd be able to handle anything if it was for you," Keith sappily replied.  
"Awwww, babe!" Lance lightly laughed, a silly smile painting his face.  
Suddenly, a pillow came flying and smacked Lance directly on his face.  
"Keith!" Lance gasped as his boyfriend laughed.  
Lance soon had a pillow in his hand as well. Both boys grabbed as many pillows as possible and began to fling them at each other.  
If you were standing outside their door, which Pidge was, all you would be able to hear was laugher and small screaming.  
"Gay," Pidge commented as she walked off to work on her computer.


	7. All's FAIR in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi my lovelies!!  
> I'm so sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've just been really busy with summer homework and AP homework.

They had been an hour into the team training level when Pidge's stomach began to growl. Keith glanced at her for a second before focusing on the gladiator again. He took a side turn and quickly kicked the bot in the stomach, which sent it tumbling a few feet backward.

"We finish this and then go eat," Keith quickly got out before charging again.  
  
The green paladin didn't hesitate either. Filled with the desire to eat, she quickly shot out her bayard, managing to wrap the gladiator's legs together. Keith then kicked the bot off balance before slicing through it in a swift movement.

Once the simulation officially ended, Pidge and Keith let out deep sighs of exhaustion.

Keith deactivated his bayard while walking to grab the towel on the ground he had left towards the entrance. Watching Pidge come closer, he picked up her towel and tossed it to her. She caught it with one hand and began to wipe her sweating face.

"If Shiro would have seen us just now, he would've been proud! We should train together more often," Pidge commented as another growl escaped her petite body.

"We should! Your bayard seriously comes in handy a lot," Keith replied, feeling a bit hungry himself.  
  
"Well, I'm going to shower before eating. Meet you in the kitchen?"

"Yeah," Keith agreed before the two paladins exited the room and went their separate ways.

Keith entered his room and grabbed an extra towel and clothes. He then sneaked into Lance's room.

While both boys sometimes hung out in Keith's room, almost everything Keith owned had been moved into Lance's. Most of his clothes were in Lance's drawers. His favorite pillow was on Lance's bed. His shampoo was in Lance's bathroom. To say the least, Keith didn't mind at all. If anything, it made him feel closer to his boyfriend, almost as if in all the chaos that was going on around them, he could always find a home in the small room they shared.  
  
Keith slowly padded to Lance's bathroom, making sure to lock the door once he was inside. He then turned on the hot water before stripping his clothes off and stepping into the welcoming shower.

He was halfway through scrubbing the shampoo into his hair when he heard the outside door open. Keith's hands halted, scared that maybe it was someone other than Lance. There was silence for a few seconds before he heard a voice.

"Keith?"

"Yeah, it's me, Lance," Keith called out, letting out the small breath he had held in.

Keith quickly finished showering in five minutes before stepping out, drying himself, and changing.

He walked out, towel around his neck, to find Lance sprawled out on the bed, sleeping.

Keith smiled, grabbing a blanket and draping it over him.  
  
The small action caused for Lance to stir awake. He struggled to open his eyes, blinking slowly as he tried to adjust his vision.

"Keith? How long has it been?" Lance yawned.

"A few minutes since you arrived. Why are you tired?"

"Coran…cleaning n' work n' stuff…" Lance mumbled half awake.

"Get some rest. I'll wake you up around evening so we can eat," Keith whispered, lightly kissing his forehead before looking for his slippers. Once he had them on, he walked out of the room, shutting the lights off so Lance could sleep peacefully.

Lance hummed in agreement, but he was sure Keith didn’t hear.

Keith walked to meet up with Pidge, as they had agreed on. Lance, on the other hand, curled into the blanket that Keith had given to him, trying to gather as much warmth as possible. Coran had had him cleaning the healing pods again, and this time, they didn't have the stool, which meant that lance had to support Coran on his shoulders while the older man cleaned the top of the pods.

His shoulders ached and would surely be sore tomorrow. Lance groaned as he tossed once more to get comfy. As time went by, his body seemed to get heavier and heavier, and before he knew it, he had completely fallen asleep.

What seemed like five minutes later, he was rudely awakened by the sudden feeling of falling. Lance gasped and roughly grabbed the blanket that covered him. He groaned when he realized that it had all been a dream and that he had in fact not been falling down into a black abyss thousands of feet high.

"Keith?" Lance called out, hoping that he had returned to his room. When he received no answer, he sat up and read the time on the tablet. Lance had to reread the time three times, because, while it felt like he had only just laid his head on the pillow, the clock was telling him a different story.

"Three hours? Really?" he whispered to himself. Lance threw himself back onto his mattress and tried to fall back asleep.

He clung to his blanket and curled himself into a ball trying to warm himself. The longer he laid there, the more he realized that it would be a while before he could sleep again.  
Lance stayed where he was, mentally preparing himself to rise up from the comfort of the bed.

With a huge sigh, Lance pushed himself up and rolled off the bed. He slung his pants off and grabbed some of Keith's loose black sweatpants. He then rummaged his closet for his favorite blue hoodie. Sliding into his slippers, he slowly trudged outside.

He yawned and ran his hand through his bed hair. Lance needed some food and a bit of attention.

Lance immediately made his way to Hunk's room in the hopes of convincing him to cook some of his favorite foods.  
When Lance didn't find Hunk, he walked to where the Lion's were docked. Pidge and Hunk were usually there either making something new, fixing something, or just chilling.

He walked in to find that Keith was there as well, curled on top of Red's paw. He looked deep in thought, nodding every once in a while and muttering softly.

Lance slowly sneaked up behind him, gently putting a finger to his mouth when Hunk and Pidge spotted him.  
Pidge raised an eyebrow at him, curious as to what he planned to do. 

Deciding to ignore his teammates' stares, he turned back to Keith, who’s back was half turned towards him.  
He shot his hands out, shaking the red Paladin who practically jumped out of his skin.  
  
“What the heck, Lance ?!” Keith gasped out, hand to his heart.  
  
Lance chuckled and climbed onto Red’s paw to join him.  
  
“You know what they say. Gotta keep the relationship exciting!” Lance laughed, crossing his legs.  
  
Keith let out a snort, taking his formally relaxed position. “With that mentality, I’ll die from a heart attack one of these days.”

“A heart attacked with lots of love,” Lance pointed out.

Keith shook his head. Sometimes he couldn’t believe the words that came out of the blue paladin's mouth.  
  
“So, whatcha doin’.”

“Just bonding with Red.”

“About?”  
  
“Stuff?” Keith shrugs  
.  
“Sounds interesting.”

“It can be at times.” Keith teases, a smile tugging at his lips.

Lance resists the urge to cuddle up against Keith and run his hands through his hair. Lance shuffled his sitting position until he knew that his back blocked Pidge’s and Hunk's view of them both.

“I missed you in the morning today.” Lance starts, settling for playing with Keith’s left hand.

“Sorry. I remembered that I had promised Shiro I’d help him go through the Galra database.”

“You could have woken me up to tell me you were leaving,” Lance pouts.

“You want me to wake you up early? Just so I can tell you I’m leaving?” Keith raises an eyebrow at Lance, actually wondering if he was joking or not.  
Lance blushes, realizing he’s probably being a bit clingy.  
  
“Yeah.”

A kind smile takes over Keith’s face. He gently squeezes Lance’s hand. “That I can do.”

With the soft way Keith was looking at him, Lance wouldn’t mind being clingy every day.

“Hey! What are you two lovebirds whispering about over there?” Pidge’s voice echoes off the walls, shattering the mood in Lance’s head.

With a big sigh, Lance lets go of Keith’s hand reluctantly and smoothly slides off the lion’s paw. He strides over to the machine Pidge is working on.

“One, we’re not lovebirds. And two, none of your business.” Lance states as he leans against Pidge’s project.

“Uh huh.” Pidge teases, wiping the sweat off her forehead with a towel.

“What is this?” Lance asks, lightly tapping the metal under his arm.

“A mini freezer. Room size.” Pidge looks up at him, a smile stretching on her face.  
  
“What?! How? Where did you find this?” Lance questions, immediately turning to inspect the machine. “Are there more? Can you get me one ?”

Hunk chuckles. “Give him a mini fridge and he won’t come out of his room for days. Don’t do it Pidge.”

Lance lightly glares at Hunk who just sticks his tongue out at him.

“Calm down children. No need for hate! Peace. Love. Serenity.” Pidge calls out in a fake meditative voice, causing Hunk, Lance, and Keith looks at her like she just grew a third head.

“What the-“ Hunk whispers.

“I was trying to be Shiro. Did it work?”

“It caused them to shut up, but also gave us enough trauma for the day,” Keith called out from his position.

“Sounds like I got it just right.” Pidge nods.

“I’m telling Shiro you’re making fun of him behind his back.” Lance grins teasingly.

“Wow, would you look at that! Suddenly, there are only enough mini freezers for everyone except Lance.”

“-is what I would have said five minutes ago, but that impersonation was perfect.” Lance corrects himself.

Keith’s soft chuckle floats to them from across the room causing Lance’s face to heat up.

Hunk gives him a knowing look.

“No.” Lance already reading Hunk’s mind.

Hunk leans in slightly to whisper, “You’ve got it bad.”

________________________________

  
Hunk and Lance had gone to the kitchen after Lance had started complaining about how he was hungry and would only eat what Hunk made. After a while, Pidge had somehow convinced Keith to help her with her inventions. They had been at it for a few hours before they both felt hungry again.

"Fine. Fine! I'm hungry too, so just hold the top of this," Pidge indicated, handing him a heavy lid, "while I finish this here." She ducked out of Keith's sight, and all he could hear was his heavy breathing and small comments she would make to herself.

"So," Pidge started, "I heard you and Lance having fun in your room yesterday. What was that all about?"

Keith almost dropped the heavy lid on top of Pidge, startled by the sudden question.

Keith cleared his throat, "It was nothing. Lance just wanted to gossip about girls, and in the end, we just ended up cracking jokes about one another like always."

"What?" Pidge stopped tinkering, and her head popped up over from where she was crouched. Her eyebrows wrinkled in what seemed like frustration.

"Why would he do that?"

Keith gave her a blank stare. "Because that boy is girl crazy."

Pidge opened her mouth but seemed hesitant to voice her thoughts.

"If you don't mind," Keith grunted, shifting his grip, " I'm hungry, my arms are getting tired, and I'd rather talk about something else than Lance's crushes."

"Uh, yeah. Sorry," Pidge muttered and gave him a look that seemed almost like pity before she went back to fixing the cord's connections.

When Pidge finally emerged from her crouched position, Keith slowly began to lower the lid.

"So, is there really enough of these for everyone to get one?" Keith questioned, rubbing his sore hands together.

"There actually isn't. We're one short. Hunk already said he wouldn't mind sharing one with me, so other than that, everyone else should have their own."

"You? Sharing?" Keith raised a teasing eyebrow.

Pidge's face flushed. "I can share when I want to!"

Keith lightly laughed. "While mini fridges are cool and all-"

"Freezers," Pidge corrected.

"Whatever. What I was trying to say was that I wouldn't mind if I don't get one. I don't see the need to have one. You can take mine."

"Really?" Pidge asked, hesitant.

"Yeah, I really don't mind." Keith reassured her, gently ruffling her hair. " Come one. Let's sit down for a bit. My arms and legs are killing me."  
________________________________

Lance peaked his head in what his team considered the living room and found Keith talking to Pidge on the couch, backs turned towards him, who was showing him something on her computer.

As Lance neared, he was surprised and slightly annoyed to find what their conversation was about.

"What about this guy? He loves working out and he has an older brother, so he probably would be able to understand your moods better than most. And you can't tell me he isn't handsome because he is o-m-g attractive," Pidge laughed as she shoved the laptop onto Keith's lap, a picture of an extremely handsome man taking over the screen.

He had light caramel skin, light brown hair, and the most emerald green eyes he had ever seen. He seemed well built, and just from looking at the picture, it was no secret that the fellow loved to workout. Seemed like a match made in heaven specifically for Keith.

"Well, he is handsome. I won’t deny that" Keith started, and Pidge's eyes flickered up.

She caught sight of Lance standing behind Keith, and it almost scared the crap out of her. To say that she wasn't afraid for Keith was an understatement. If Keith said something out of line, Lance would probably be moody and pouty for weeks.  
  
Their plan had been to separate the both of them and try to convince them to date some people. When they refused, which they assumed they would, they would then begin to ask them why until they could admit their liking of each other. From there, it would be easier to encourage both boys to try to talk to each other about their feelings.

What Pidge had not anticipated was Lance showing up during her 'mini-mission'.

"O-oh. Yes, he is handsome," Pidge repeated almost robotically, not knowing how to handle the situation.  
  
"I'll think about it," Keith looked up to meet Pidge's eyes, who looked scared. He closed the laptop and handed it to her, eyebrow raised.

"Hey, Keith. Can I talk to you?" Lance finally spoke up. Keith jumped and turned around so fast he almost got whiplash.

When he saw it was Lance, he glanced back at Pidge, who avoided making eye contact with him.

Keith cleared his throat before nodding. He slowly stood up and followed Lance out of the room, leaving Pidge to wonder if everything was going to be alright.

Seconds later, the doors to the room closed, signaling that they could talk freely in the hallway.

"Just so you know, I'm not actually considering it, at all. I already told you, I love you." Keith quickly began, afraid Lance might have thought that Keith was actually considering meeting up with the guy.

"That? I know," Lance replied, reaching for Keith's hand and intertwining their fingers, "Though he really is handsome. How can someone so beautiful even be created?"

"I'll ask your mom and dad when we return to Earth," Keith teased, giving his hand a light squeeze.

A soft blush made its way up Lance’s neck. “Kogane, you are so cheesy sometimes- I can’t.”

“But you like it.”

“Of course I do. You’re my boyfriend and I love knowing that you love me as much as I love you.”

“I don’t love you as much as you love me.” Keith frowns.

“Not again-“

“Because I love you more.”

Keith tugs on Lance’s hand until he leans down before stealing a quick kiss.

“I highly doubt it, but if it makes you feel happy thinking that.” Lance teases.

They had once had a lighthearted fight about who loved who more, and it just ended in lots of blushing and an amazing make-out session. Not that Lance didn’t want to have a make-out session. But it probably wasn’t the best idea to do it in the hallway with Pidge just on the other side of the door and the possibility of anyone wandering the halls.  
  
"So what did you need to talk to me about?"

"Our plan. By the looks of it, it seems like they're already starting their shenanigans. I don't get why they have to show you other men, though, "Lance lightly whined, pouting.

Keith chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll make it extra known that I can't stand you."

"Please do. Let's get as many free dates as possible."

They both stood there, neither making a move. It was only when Keith laid his head on his shoulder that Lance realized how bad he actually wanted to get caught. He wanted to be able to just enjoy this feeling of puppy love with no need to completely stop because of their teammates.

“Is it weird that I really don’t want to let go of your hand?” Keith asks, squeezing their intertwined hands, purposely looking for a reaction. “Because I just want to hold onto you forever.”

Lance sputters. “Keith! You need to stawwph! What is it with you today, man? My poor heart can only take so much.”

Keith laughs. “I’m sorry. You’re just so cute sometimes. I can’t help it.”

“Alright kiddo. Making-fun-of-your-amazing-and-sexy-boyfriend session is over. I actually came to get you and Pidge. Hunk and I made food.” Lance lets Keith’s hand drop and walks back into the room.

Pidge is still sitting in the place she was when they left. She looked towards Keith as if she assumed that he would have just disappeared.

"Hey, let's go. Hunk finished cooking and after all that tinkering, I'm sure you're hungry!" Lance chirped.

"O-oh. Okay," Pidge stuttered, confused at Lance's cheery mood.

She would have totally expected him to be a bit duller if anything, not that she wanted to see him down. Pidge stood, laptop tucked safely between her body and left arm. She awkwardly shuffled out of the room, wishing that Hunk would magically appear and whisk her away from the awkward tension that she was sure was in the air.

They walked in silence for a few seconds before Lance decided to speak up.

"So, what's the news on the fair? How long until we have the most excitingly fun day since we left Earth?" Lance questioned, locking his fingers behind his head.

"Uh- we should actually be there by tomorrow," Pidge informed them.

"That quick?" Keith asked, surprised.

"Well, yeah. We haven't really been making any stops, so it figures we'd be getting there fairly early."

It turned into a semi-comfortable silence for a minute before Lance decided to chime in again.

"I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to find future Mrs. Blue Lion at the fair," Lance happily hummed.

"I highly doubt it," Pidge commented, almost too loudly.

Keith and Lance exchanged a quick glance before a sly grin took over Lance's face.

"Why so pessimistic, Pidge? Don't you want me to find a nice girl that I can take home to meet my parents? Someone who would be great with our future kids? Someone who-" Lance didn't get any future before Pidge cut him off.

"No, because-" Pidge looked at Keith, who gave her a blank stare. "Because what will Hunk do if you're running off with other girls? Are you just going to leave him all alone in the big, enormous fair that just happens to be a great opportunity to strengthen bonds with one another?"

"What about team Punk? The two of you always have fun together," Lance suggested.

"What about Keith? Who's gonna hang out with him?"

"I'm going to go off alone and get myself a boyfriend," Keith blurted out at the mention of his name.

Pidge stood in front of the dining room door, mouth open. "You both are so-so…unbelievable!" Pidge whisper-yelled, exasperated, throwing her hands into the air as if giving up on everything in life.

Once the door closed Lance let out the laugh he had been holding in.

"You're evil! Poor Pidge. You're going to turn her hair white," Keith scolded, but couldn't help the smile that grew on his face.

"Me?! What about you and your space-fair-boyfriend?" Lance teased.

"Hey! Leave my space-boyfriend alone! He's innocent." Keith lightly shoved Lance's shoulder, pushing him towards the dining room. "Let's go! I'm starving."

“They’re impossible!” Keith and Lance could hear Pidge complaining to Hunk and as the door opened, and they saw as she aggressively stabbed her soup with a spoon.

”Hey, you two! Took you long enough to get Pidge and Keith, Lance.” Hunk greeted them with a smile.

Lance ignored the teasing comment and turned to Keith. ”I helped make the soup! It actually isn't as hard or complication as you would think.”

”Oh jeez. You helped make it? I just hope I don't die.” Keith grabbed the bowl that Hunk pushed to him almost hesitantly.

”You won’t. I supervised the whole time, ” Hunk chuckled.

He quickly grabbed a spoon and sat down. A few seconds later, Lance sat right across from him.

Surprisingly the soup gave him a sense of nostalgia. It reminded him of Earth and the days he would be sick with non-stop colds and how Shiro would take the time to make him chicken noodle soup.

When both boys had finished with their bowls, Lance gently nudged Keith's foot with his. "How was it?"

Keith smirked. "It was edible."

"Was it that bad?" Hunk questioned, faking a hurt expression.

"I-No! It was actually really good."

"That's good, then. See, Lance? Your cooking doesn't suck," Hunk patted Lance's back as he moved to sit next to him, a bowl of soup in hand.

"Wait. You said he just helped," Pidge chimed in, already grabbing a second bowl.

"He did help. He helped make the soup while I made cookies."

“So…I could’ve died?” Keith teased.

“If you want to put it that way,” Lance shrugged, a small pout forming on his lips.

“Hey,” Keith gently nudged Lance’s thigh with his knee. “I was joking.”

Lance smiled and reached out to place a hand over his. “Yeah, I figured.”

"You should make it again sometime," Keith suggested.

"Yeah?" Lance asked, excited that Keith actually wanted to eat his cooking again.

“Hunk do you have a knife?” Pidge called out.

“Why?”

“Because it feels like I can cut the sexual tension in here!” Pidge wheezes out.

Lance turns to Pidge, hand still on top of Keith’s. If you stared closely, you could see Lance trying his hardest to hide the smile that was threatening to make itself known.

“What are you talking about? Keith and I are just friends.” Lance made sure to give her the most confused faced he could make.

"But Lance you told me-" Keith turned his head towards Hunk, causing his words to catch in this throat. He forgot that Keith didn't know Lance liked him.

"Lance told you what?" Keith questioned.

"He told me…that you were best friends," Hunk slowly articulated.

"You think of me as a best friend?" Keith turned to Lance, trying his best to look a bit disappointed.

"Uh. Yeah."

"Cool," Keith removed his hand from Lance's hold. "Just friends."

"Yeah, friends," Lance repeated as if it would somehow solidify the statement.

"But friendship can always lead to more," Hunk mumbled into his soup, looking back and forth at the two paladins. Pidge was right. It seemed like they were lovey-dovey one second and then obliviously pining the next."

Keith snorted. "Yeah. Super duper mega besties."

"Or?" Pidge looked at Lance as if encouraging him to offer another option.

"Super duper mega space besties?" Lance shrugged.

"And in certain cases, it can lead to?" Hunk looked at both Keith and Lance. They stared back at him for the longest time. When it was obvious that neither paladin was going to respond, Hunk let out a big sigh. "In certain cases, it can lead to love."

"I don't like him," both boys simultaneously blurted out. However, they couldn't resist the blush that seemed to cover their faces.

Lance began using his hands to fan at his face. "Wow. Is it me or did it suddenly get hot in here?"

Keith grabbed the collar of his shirt and began pulling on it so that fresh air could begin to circulate. "It definitely got hotter. Maybe it's the soup?"

Lance nodded. "Definitely the soup."

"Let's go ask Coran if there's a way to turn the temperature down for a few minutes?" Keith suggested, standing up to put his dirty bowl in their space equivalent of a dishwasher.

"Okay! Let's," Lance agreed, putting his dish in the machine as well.

The two boys walked out of the room, leaving Hunk and Pidge alone.

"What the actual fuck…" Pidge whispered.

"How can two boys be so oblivious?" Hunk swiveled around to look at the green paladin.

"I don’t know! It's so frustrating!" Pidge whined, tugging lightly at her hair.

The doors swished opened, revealing a tired Shiro in pajama pants and slippers.

"Hey, what's up?" Shiro yawned and walked to the kitchen to make himself some coffee.

"Just that Keith is a pining nugget that can't admit he likes Lance, and Lance is too embarrassed to confess." Pidge sighed.

"What do you mean? Keith already told me that he likes Lance," Shiro grunted as he sat down, mug in hand.

"When?" Hunk asked.

"Yesterday night." Shiro took a small sip from his mug.

"So you mean to tell me that this whole time that I was trying to get Keith to realize his feelings, he already knew he liked Lance?!" Pidge practically fainted. So much stress for nothing.

"What's got you so worked up?" Shiro questioned.

Pidge took a deep breath before laying her head down on the table. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"By the way, why are you in your pajamas?" Hunk asked, patting Pidge's back.

"I overslept," Shiro chuckled.

"So what's the plan for the fair tomorrow?"

"Get them to spend time together? See that maybe it isn't as impossible as they believe?" Shiro shrugged.

"Okay," Hunk began to nod. "Baby steps. Getting them to walk around together shouldn't be too hard."

________________________________

"Since this is a day to de-stress, the entrance tickets are on me," Shiro announced as he brought out a metal box. He unlocked it and began taking out a handful of money. "As for money for food and games, well- I just hope you all have money saved."

"I can't wait! What kind of rides do you think they have?" Pidge exclaimed, bouncing on her heels.

"The space kind," Keith blurted out sarcastically before he could stop himself.

Pidge scrunched her nose up. "It seems that hanging out with Lance more often has been a bad influence on you."

Expecting a retort from the blue paladin, everyone turned to look at him to find him quietly counting the money in his hand. When he noticed that it suddenly became really quiet around him he looked up, startled to find so many eyes focused on him.

"Yes?" Lance nervously asked, shoving his money back in his pocket.

"The castle will be landing in 30 ticks. Everyone, please be back in the castle before sunrise tomorrow morning," Allura warned.

"Sunrise?! It's open all night as well?!" Hunk asked excitedly.

"Yes. It's what I believe you humans call '24 slash 7'." Coran lightly tugged at his mustache.

By the time the castle landed, everyone was already bustling to the brim with excitement. Pidge, Lance, Allura, and Hunk had small backpacks on them filled with snacks and water bottles.

“Keith, who are you going around with?” Shiro asked, joining him as they walked into the park, orange paper bracelets on everyone’s wrists.

“No one,” Keith responded.

“Why don’t you hang out with-“

“ I’m going to walk around alone for a while. Maybe later I’ll meet up with Pidge and Hunk.” Keith quickly interrupted him, trying his best to convey that he didn’t need any company.

Shiro gave him a once over. “Well at least take a bag. You might not like the food here. What if you want water?”

“Shiro, I’m fine. Trust me. I’ve got it all covered,” Keith gave Shiro’s shoulder a quick reassuring squeeze before walking off.

“Wait! Lance where are you going?” Hunk called out.

Shiro turned just in time to jump out of Lance’s way.

“ I’m going to go check everything out before deciding what ride to hit first. I’ll meet up with you two later!” Lance shouted, waving a hand goodbye as he ran off.

“What was the point of this if they aren’t going to go off together ?” Pidge groaned.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ll eventually run into each other and realized they’re both lonely before walking around together,” Hunk added, optimistically.

________________________________

Lance took out his phone and called Keith, who answered almost immediately.

“Where are you, babe?”

“By the cotton candy stand.” Keith’s voice seemed a bit faint with the background noise.

Lance looked down at the small map in his right hand.

“Oh! I’m near you. I’ll be there in a bit.” Lance told Keith before hanging up.

After walking for about a minute, Lance spotted Keith sitting on a bench next to the stand. Lance walked up to Keith, a big smile decorating his face.

“Are you ready to have the best first date ever?” Lance asked excitedly as Keith stood up.

“I can’t believe we’ve been dating for five months without ever going on a date,” Keith snorted.

Lance reached out to grab Keith’s hand which Keith took more than willingly.

“So where do you want to go first?” Lance lightly nudged Keith’s shoulder gently.

“Anywhere is fine.”

“Then let’s go to the big rides!” Lance suggested, walking off in the direction he has originally been going.

“Aren’t those on the other side of the park?”

Lance took out his map before turning them around to walk the opposite way.

By the time they made it to their destination, most of the rides had long lines.

“Oh jeez, this is going to take a while isn’t it?” Keith muttered.

“Do you want to go somewhere else?” Lance asked.

Keith shook his head. “Pidge mentioned that you loved fast rollercoasters with big drops. And weren’t you dying to go on this ride?”

“Are you sure? I didn’t even ask if big rollercoasters were your thing.” Lance shyly ran his free hand through his hair.

“We literally fly robot cats in space. I’m sure these roller coasters are nothing.” Keith confidently walked forward, the line shortening every 2 minutes.

Keith had been mistaken. By the time they were strapped into their seats, he realized how totally different this was. In space, he had Red who would do anything to keep him safe.

The thing he was strapped into was just metal. Anything could happen.

Lance chuckled at Keith’s expression. He turned his body, as much as the ride would let him, towards Keith.

“Nervous?”

“Not a chance.” Keith reached out to grab the bar in front of him as reassurance.

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Lance hummed, bumping their thighs together.

“Everyone, please keep all body parts inside the vehicle at all times! Enjoy the ride!” The speakers above them began blaring action music, which just caused Keith’s adrenaline to jump.

The ride began inching forward up a slope.

Curse the day Keith fell for Lance. Curse Lance for having a cute smile. Curse the fact that he loved Lance enough for him to convince him to get on the death contraption.

By the time they reached the top, Keith’s knuckles were an inhumanly white color.

Lance pulled Keith’s left hand off of the safety bar.

“This is the fun part,” Lance chuckled.

He began to raise their hands and before Keith could protest and return his hand to its previous position, the cart went over the edge.  
________________________________

It was midday by the time they had finished going on all of the big rides.

“Where to now?” Keith questioned, resting his head on Lance’s shoulder as they sat on a bench, grateful that the torture was over.

“Should we grab something to eat?”

“Yeah.”

Neither boy made any sign of moving.

"You know, going to get food means getting your lazy ass up and walking," Lance teased.

"I could say the same thing to you," Keith grumbled.

"Fair enough."

The scenery around them was peaceful. There were families walking around everywhere. Friends were having fun, eating and joking around booths. And it wouldn't be a fair if there weren't couples littered everywhere as well.

"Lance! Look," Keith nudged the blue paladin and discreetly pointed to a group of what he assumed were teenagers as they passed by. "Is it me or do they have fries and hamburgers?"

"Oh my god, I think they do." Lance took his bag off and looked inside the small pocket before opening the fair's map.

"There!" Keith pointed to the middle of the map. Right in the smack middle was a whole section dedicated to Earth food.

Lance quickly shoved the map into the pocket of his jeans and returned his bag to its previous position. He stood and pulled Keith up with him.

"Let's go!" Lance whined as he tugged on Keith's hand, urging him to walk faster.

"The food isn't going anywhere, Lance," Keith teased but began walking faster anyway.

"You don't know that. They could run out."

"That literally was the only group I've seen with Earth food. It probably isn't too popular around this planet."

Lance dropped Keith's hand and opted for wrapping his arm around the red paladin's waist. Keith leaned in as close as he could without hindering their ability to walk, wrapping his own around Lance as well.

"Do you think they'll have soda? Or lemonade?" Lance asked excitedly.

"I don't know. I hope so," Keith hummed, Lance's excitement becoming contagious.

It didn't take long for the boys to finally reach their destination.

"Look! The line for burgers and fries isn't long!" Lance practically squealed.

"Hurry! Before other's get in line!" Keith untangled himself from Lance and ran to the end of the line, softly laughing at the betrayed look Lance gave him as he ran off.

Once Lance caught up to him, he began pulling his money out of his left pocket.

"Oh! I brought money, too," Keith shoved his hand into his pocket to fish out said money.

"It's okay. I'll pay." Lance grabbed Keith's arm to stop him.

"Lance," Keith looked up at him. "While that's really sweet, we're all short on money. Let's just split it."

Lance looked at the money in his hand. He had counted it back at the castle, and he knew that he probably didn't have enough to treat Keith with a bunch of food and games the way he wanted to.

"Okay," Lance grinned, swatting away all negative thoughts. At that moment, he promised himself that as soon as the got back to Earth, he would take Keith on the most romantic date ever filled with all the food and games his heart desired.

"I think I'm gonna get a double cheeseburger with fries with nacho cheese dipping."

Lance turned to look at Keith. "You eat your fries dipped in nacho cheese?"

"Yeah? I have ever since-Oh shit!" Keith's eyes widened at the sight of Hunk and Pidge looking around. By the looks of it, they hadn't spotted the duo yet.

"Remember my order! Don't forget the nacho cheese!" Keith hurried out before running off to hide.

"The money!" Lance whisper yelled, but it was too late; Keith was too far to even remotely understand what he said and Hunk and Pidge had spotted him and were walking towards him already.

Suddenly, a pretty alien walked up to him. She had long brown hair and deep blue eyes, and aside from the tail sticking out from a custom hole in her light pink skirt and a few marks peeking out from under the sleeves of her white blouse, she appeared to be human.

"Hey!" She shy touched Lance's arm as reassurance that she had his attention.

"Hi?" Lance awkwardly asked.

"Sorry to bother you," the girl began, nervously tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. "But I saw you earlier with your boyfriend, and you both seemed to be having fun. I-uh… Have you, by any chance, visited the romantic rides yet?"

"There are romantic rides here?" Lance's eyes widened. He and Keith definitely had to go on them.

Both the girl and Lance step forwards as the line moved.

"Yeah, there are quite a few." The girl reached into her pink side purse and took out the folded map.

While the girl fully opened the map, Lance took the chance to look behind him. Hunk and Pidge were, staring at him and the girl next to him as if they didn't know what to make of the situation. Before Lance would wave hi to them the alien girl tapped his arm again.

"My girlfriend and I have been walking around for a while trying to find Lover's Land, but were both bad with directions and the map didn't help," the girl began to explain, handing Lance the right corner of the paper so they could both have a look at it.

"Well, first off, you're holding the map upside down," Lance chuckled, flipping the map. The girl's face turned a bright red.

"Oh god, Mare is going to just have a party when she hears about this," the girl rolled her eyes affectionately. " She told me multiple times the map was upside down, but I was so sure it wasn't, you know?"

"Trust me, I know exactly what you mean," Lance snorted. It sounded like something Keith would do.

"Anywho, please continue."

"Yes, so- wait for just a second," Lance hadn't noticed that they had reached the front of the line until the woman behind the booth had asked him what he would like.

"Can I get two double cheeseburgers, two sets of large fries, a side dipping of nacho cheese, a large pink lemonade and a large sprite?"

"Okay, sir. That will be 8 gac. Your order will be ready in a bit," the cashier politely smiled at him.

Lance almost did a double take. He confidently handed over 8 gac and received a receipt. To his surprise, the food had been a lot cheaper than he expected. 8 gac had to be the equivalent to at least thirty-five dollars. Either that or aliens didn't think Earth food was much and sold it cheaply instead.

"Uh, so as I was saying," Lance continued as they got out of line, "you should walk left until you reach Quiblin's Queen. Once you reach that ride, take a right." Lance told the girl, using his finger to trace the path that she should take on the map.

"Thank you so much, uh…"

"Lance."

The girl smiled. "Thank you, Lance. I hope you and your boyfriend have a lovely day. If you can, you should visit Lover's Land."

"I just might catch you and your girlfriend there…I'm sorry. What's your name?"

"Detine." The girl held out her hand and Lance shook it.

"Thank you so much, again!" Detine called out as she walked away.

"No problem!" Lance waved goodbye.

He turned around, half expecting Hunk and Pidge to be watching him, but found that they had left. Lance took his phone out, ready to call Keith to tell him the coast was clear when he spotted the red paladin already walking towards him.  
  
Once Keith reached him, he took the receipt from Lance, making sure that his precious nacho cheese was ordered.

"Who was that?" Keith tried to ask nonchalantly as he scanned the ordered items.

"Her name is Detine. She wanted directions to a certain part of the park so she could take her girlfriend."

"She's pretty," Keith commented to himself.

"Yeah, she is." Lance agreed.

Keith began to stare hard at the ground, lost in thought. Lance slung his around Keith's shoulder and lightly shook him.

"Hey, there's no need to be jealous. She's really pretty, but I think you're pretty and handsome and sexy, so don't overthink everything too much," Lance pressed a light kiss to Keith's temple.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Keith responded automatically. He didn't have it in his heart to tell Lance that he wasn't jealous, but instead thinking about how he would look like if he had been born a girl.

 _Would I have pretty hair?_ Keith snorted. It was a stupid question with a simple answer. _Fuck yeah, I'd have pretty hair._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know for sure when the next chapter will be up.  
> I thought I would have more time to write over the summer but it seems I was mistaken lol.  
> I have to do a research document on a future position i may take.  
> I also have to complete my summer/ AP homework, so there's that...  
> I'll try to write and update as soon as possible, though.  
> Thank you for the support!

**Author's Note:**

> Please excuse my horrible writing and story-telling. I don't know when the next chapter will be up.


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